"I almost dropped a tear today": Taylor Townsend opens up on balancing single motherhood and tennis after winning WTA Award

Taylor Townsend shared a heartfelt reflection on balancing her career with her life as a single mother after receiving the WTA Doubles Team of the Year award alongside her partner, Katerina Siniakova. The American finished the year as World No. 2—trailing only her Czech colleague—with whom she won three titles this season.

The American had been posting strong doubles results for a few years, but it wasn't until she joined forces with Siniakova in 2024 that her best results arrived, winning their first title together at Wimbledon last year and crowning themselves as the Tour's best duo this season.

Townsend and Siniakova started the year in the best possible way by being crowned Australian Open champions. Then came titles at the WTA 1000 in Dubai and a run to the US Open final, in addition to reaching the semifinals of the WTA Finals and Wimbledon. A few months ago, Townsend reached the summit of the rankings as World No. 1 for the first time—being displaced a few weeks later by Siniakova after they played a few tournaments with different partners.

At the WTA Finals, they secured the year-end No. 1 team ranking. For Townsend, this marks her best year-end ranking so far and her third consecutive year inside the doubles Top 10. On Siniakova's side, it was the fifth time in her career she finished as doubles World No. 1 and the fourth time she has won Doubles Team of the Year—having previously achieved it three times with her compatriot Barbora Krejcikova (2018, 2021, 2022).

Towards the end of July, Townsend became the first mother to reach World No. 1 in doubles following a great campaign at the DC Open alongside China's Shuai Zhang, where they reached the final. “This is the most satisfying journey I think I could’ve ever had,” Townsend shared during her post-match press conference. “I’ve accomplished more after becoming a mom than I ever did before.”

The former junior World No. 1 shared a heartfelt reflection on her social media channels this Tuesday morning, a day after the WTA Awards winners were announced. The American was honored for the first time in these awards, voted on by international media, thanks to her great campaigns in doubles with Siniakova.

"I keep forgetting how hard this is,” the American said in her Instagram stories. “Like, I'm Ubering because AJ's caretaker is out. Thank goodness that my best friend is here. She took him to school while I go to the gym, then I have to fit everything in. Go to the gym, going home and get my food, then go to practice, then go back to the gym for my cardio session, and then be done with that so I can leave, go pick him up, have swim class today to then come home... I almost cried this morning.. But Imma push through."

"I almost dropped a tear today but we keep it pushing," she captioned in other picture.

The American recently made a change to her team by splitting with coach John Williams, with whom she had been working since 2021. While the 30-year-old player has been consistent in doubles, she has not maintained enough regularity in her singles results, closing 2025 at World No. 117.

Townsend had reached the Top 50 for the first time around mid-2024 and finished that year as World No. 68. However, there were not too many strong singles results in 2025—with her US Open campaign to the fourth round standing out, along with some good runs at WTA 1000 tournaments, reaching the third round at the Miami Open and Cincinnati—though she missed out on the main draw of other WTA tournaments due to her poor ranking.